“It is necessary to note that, with regard to raw materials, We depend most of the time on a single country, which is China“, denounces the vice president of the European Commission responsible for Industry, the French Stéphane Séjourné.
“There is a Chinese strategy that has monopolized between 70% and 80% of either extraction or refining, depending on critical raw materials,” he highlighted. Beijing also produces 90% of the world’s refined rare earths and rare earth magnets.
The Commission of Ursula von der Leyen adopted this Wednesday the Action Plan RESourceEUwhose objective is to guarantee the supply in the EU of these strategic resources, such as rare earths, cobalt or lithium. It’s about ingredients fundamental for industries such as automobiles, the military or semiconductors.
The main novelty of RESourceEU is the commitment to recycling rare earths and permanent magnets as a recipe to reduce dependence on China. Brussels is also committed to facilitating permits to exploit existing mines within the EU, as well as seeking alternative suppliers such as Ukraine, Norway, Australia, Canada or South Africa.
Currently, the EU recovers less than 1% of the rare earths consumed. With the right incentives, European rare earth recyclers could meet up to 20% of current demand of permanent magnets.
To boost recycling, Brussels will propose during the first half of 2026 introduce export restrictions of waste and scrap permanent magnets, as well as specific measures on the aluminum scrap. The adoption of similar actions will be studied for the copper scrap if deemed necessary.
Another of the pillars of the RESourceEU Plan is the implementation of the European Center for Critical Raw Materialsa new organization designed to monitor the market, guide and finance strategic projects together with public and private partners.
In addition, the Center, which will begin operating in early 2026, will act as a supply chain manager, promoting joint purchases and strategic reserves to ensure a diversified and resilient supply throughout Europe.
In the next 12 months, lThe EU will allocate up to 3 billion euros to promote projects that offer alternative supplies in the short term.
The Commission, the European Investment Bank and Member States are already releasing funds for two priority projects: Vulcan’s lithium extraction in Germany for batteries and Greenland Resources’ Malmbjerg molybdenum project, aimed at securing supply for the defense sector.
China’s dominance
The Critical Raw Materials Act (adopted in 2024) states that by 2030, the EU must have the capacity to extract 10%, process 40% and recycle 25% of the strategic raw materials it consumes. At the same time, you must diversify your supply to not depend on a single country for more than 65% of its demand.
“Although the direction is clear, it is essential to accelerate progress towards these goals“, warns the community Executive.
“China has established dominance of global production capacity at all stages of the value chain, from extraction to the manufacture of metals or magnets. “This control creates dependencies for the EU and other partners, which are increasingly used as a geopolitical tool, with the capacity to significantly affect European industry,” says the Brussels report.
“A crisis in the supply of critical raw materials represents a real and present threat to the EU,” warns the Commission.
Beijing leverages its power in the critical raw materials market to gradually expand its dominance in key value chains, such as batteries, electric cars or turbines.
Furthermore, in the last three years, China has adopted a series of export control measures that affect strategic resources such as graphite, gallium, tungsten, bismuth, germanium and rare earths, as well as end products such as batteries or equipment related to the processing of rare earths.
The new restrictions on October 9, 2025 included extraterritorial controls on any industrial or defense products containing certain critical raw materials. Its one-year suspension (agreed by Donald Trump with Xi Jinping but which has been extended to the EU) “offers only temporary and partial relief.”
European manufacturers of cars, machinery and medical devices continue to be affected by other measures in force, causing administrative blockages and delays in shipments. “With few alternatives on the market, they are often left waiting, without visibility on license approval deadlines and forced to provide sensitive business information,” admits Brussels.
All this “could lead to temporary closure of production and even plant closures and layoffswhile undermining the EU’s economic security, its long-term competitiveness and energy transition goals.”
“Critical dependence on certain raw materials may also hinder the EU’s ability to meet its 2030 defense readiness goals and support Ukraine militarily, which represents a direct safety risk“, concludes the Commission.